Transmission



f5?? 2 ,M T27 2 April 23, `1946. w. E. MoFFlTT y 2,398,839

TRNsMssIoN Filed Dec. 28, `1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 23, 1946.

w. E. MoFFlTT V 2,398,839

TRANSMISSION Filed Dec. 28, 1940 2 Smets-sheet 2 Patented Apr. 23, 1946 UNITED rRANsMIssIoN William is. Monia, Muncie, 1nd., assigner to Borg. Warner Corporation, Chicagoylvll., a corporation of Illinois Application member/2s, 1946,*seria1No. 372,030

l13 Claims. (ci. ifi- 290) x This-invention relates to speed ratio changing devices and particularly to a speed reducing mechanism which is to be used with an aircraft engine. i Y i This application is a-continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 359,987 led October 7, il?.

, 1940. In this prior application is described and claimed a planetary transmission whichis toy be usedbetween an aircraft engine and propeller to reduce the speed of the propeller with respect to y thedrive Yshaft of the'engine and thereby enable the' engine to rotate at a higher speed, particularly at the take-ott. The increased torque resulting from the vhigher speed of the engine improves `ina'neuverability and enables the planeV to climb at a steeper angle. A

The principal object of this invention is to improve` the Vforegoing airplane transmission by omitting andV simplifying certain of the parts thereof without omitting the functions performed thereby. "i

Another important object of this invention is to incorporate in the reduced drive a shock absorbing function which removes the shock load from the gear teeth andpermits the use of lighter gears without sacricing safety.'

These and other objectsand features rof this invention will become apparent from the following description when taken together'with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view showing the transmission assembled with its cooperating engine and propeller; Y

Fig. 2 is a side elevation in section through the improved transmission;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation in section of the transmission taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the casing showing an improved means for conducting fluid under pressure to the transmission.

The transmission, when installed in a'plane, is interposed betweenthe engine and propeller so that the speed of the propeller may be changed relative to the speed of the engine. This is shown in Fig. 1 wherein the transmission A is shown f pinions I6.

pulses or sh'ocks produced by theengine, .undiminishedV by any'"flywlleel. In this respect transmission A' 'differsfrom automobile Atransmissions since thelatter -transmit engine torque only after' it hasbeen smoothed ot'by a flywheel. The requirements which the transmission of this invention has to meet are therefore different from those of Aan ordinary transmission and the man-` ner inv which these requirements'are mti'will be described hereinafter.` -ff Referring now to theu drawings for Aa'detailed description of the invention,H the transmission may bede'scribed brienyascoinprisinga driveshaft? lllnormally connected-to the engine B and comprising the crankshaft thereoa` driven shaftl I, to one end vof'` which is splined a flange l2 whichconstitutes a support fr propeller C. Intermediate shaftsA I0 and Il ar'ea planetary gear set I3 whichcomp'is'es a 'ring gear Ill bolted to drive shaft l ll, a Ysun'fgear lmountedpn driven shaft Il and rotatable'withV respect thereto, and planetpinionsl meshing with ring gear I4 and sun gear l5. A carrier Il is mounted on a ange' I8 rigid with d rivens haft lilA anclsupports planet A clutchl9 of the positivetype is used to conneet ring gear I4 with carrier Il for` direct drive. An automatic one-way brake 20 of the roller-andcam type is used to arrest the. rotationof sun i, gear 'l5 whengclutchl is released to`secure a reduced drive between ring` gnear |74 and carrier I1.

.Fositpive clutch' I 9AA is comprised of a pair of 'Oppositely disposed radially AI.11 Valv1 vDevils 2| whiclrare adaptedmt'owmove into axially aligned windows or slots 22 a drum 23 which is an extension ofjring gear 4lll. "Pawls I9 are mounted in. supparts! lwhicharesecured t0 Carrier Il and rotatabltherewith Tosimplify the construction ofthe planetary gearnsetf and pawl support the number of planet gearshaszbeen reduced to two whicharequally spaced with respect to pawlslilngv J.

, Eachjpawl lLis operated by means ofa bell "crank 25;pivote`d,on supports 24-..Saidlbell crank 25 is .comprised of `ariarm 26 .having arounded end 21- cooperating with'a slot.28 in pawl 2|.` A secondarm 29 extendsfupwa'rdly and outwardly with respect Vto arm 2B and is provided with a pivotedl shoe 3Q at itsAfree end. As an important feature of this invention, said. arm 29 and shoe 30 are made heavier thanlarm 26 to balance the weight of pawl 2l and reduce materially the effect of centrifugal; force upon the pawl. AThis balancing effect makes the disengagement easier and permits a lighter construction to be used in the disengaging mechanism.

Pawl 2| is normally Ibiased radially outward toward engaged position by means of a spring 3| which is compressed between the bottom of the pawl and an ear 32 on plate 33 secured to carrier I1. P awl 2| is disengaged bythe action of a piston 34 which isV adapted't'o move tothe. right (Fig. 1)` and engage shoe 3U. Said piston 34 is mounted in an annular cylinder 35 in housing 36. Piston 34 is normally maintained in its released position by means of a plurality of' springs 31 which are compressed between a washer 38 retained by a transverse pin39 onv a pin `lli] and a second washer Vlll which abuts` a plate 42 fastened to piston 34. Pin 49 in turn is fixed in housing 36 by means of another pin d. Movement to engaged position is. eiected by rotating a valve 43 to admit oil under pressure to cylinder; 35, the oil being; obtained from, ar conduit lill-cored infhousingi YConduit M is connected through a ball -check valvelt5` to; the eilline of engine B. The details-ofthe valve and conduits are clescribedfin-full.' in my previous application Serial No?. 359,987 and hence Ywill not be described here",

Plate 42 is provided,Y with slotted earsV 46 through which passpinetaand .by whichv plate 162 and piston 34 are held ginstrotation with respectto casing 36;.

Sunf gear |5.; is..integral With a sleeve 47 which isfbelled atA 48' to.; provide an annular ange 49. The innersurffacejgofnange 48 ismade cylinwhen the rollers ride up on their cams. It will be readily apparent that due to the relatively flat angle of the cams, the radial forces are quite high and that the cooperating members may be distorted if they are not made sufficiently rigid. This distortion manifests itself as a slight relative rotational movement between the driving and xed elements. Where the power to the driving element is perfectly steady there is but a single such relative rotational movement at the time the power is applied, but Where the power Vis in the form of impulses there will be a rotaloads.

drical andtheouterV surface 5I is. made conical. 1

Cylindricalsurface 50 cooperates With-a plurality of. rollers -52which are retained by` means of a ring 53 in spaced relation with respect to a plurality of carn surfaces 5 4v -on: a. cam ring -55.r Saidcam ring55 is anchoredy at 56-tocasing 36 so asto. be non-rtatable.vl with. respect thereto. Cam surfaces 54 are so arranged.- thaty rollers `52 ride `up the.' surfaceswhensungear IE5 tends tornrotatefgbackwardly, and ride down. the cam surfaces 54 to recesses 5l when sun gear `|'5ftends to rotateforwardly. Inthis mannensungear f5 held; .aeanft beelwada rotation by rollers 5 2. whichthusconstitute :an automatic one-Way brake.

Whenclutch |9-is released-by the right-hand movement of pistonll` .(Eig.2),r.tle.reaction of theload upon. s'ung'ear4 I5 tendsto rotate the gear backwardlyybut as -stated above, this-baokward. rotation. is prevented by means of. rollers 5L If the ship shoulddivewhenthe .transmission is. inreduced gear, the propellernight. tend to windmill `at ahigher speed. thanv provided by gearing |31 and 'thereby pick-sun. gear I5 oi`r` rollers 52. When this happens. the engine is temporarily without al ywh'eeif and hence, may cease operating .in whichjcase if'the pilot Wishes again to apply power to his propeller to pull out of the dive, he. would be unable todo so'.

To prevent vthe windmillingjof the propeller, piston 34' providedwitn a conical' friction surface 58 which is adapted, to cooperate with conical' surface 5| `on flange' y|319' toh'old sunj gearA l5 againstrotationvin the forward direction when clutch I9 is released; Said friction surface 58 may be grooved afterA the practice followed in synchronizer rings for-automobile transmissions to improve the holding abilityof the surface.

It is customary"designpracticeI tomakeall of the parts associated withn the rolleraand-cam tional movement for each impulse, with the natural resilience of the elements supplying the returning erre-storing force.

Since weight isa prime factor in the design of airplane engines.` and propellers, and since such engines usually depend upon the propeller for the requisite flywheel action to keep them rotatingismoothly, it has; beenioundthat the shock loads" on drive shaft` lareivery'severe, particularly where a. small number of vcylinders is used, as, for example, in light-plane engines. vWhere continuous geared drives for propellers are used itA has been found necessary to make the gears considerably heavier than is required for the normaLtorqueto be'transmitted in order to provide suiiicient strength tol take care of these. shock I have discovered however, thatA by deliberately making thg--one-waybrake element lighter than usual and mak-ing noattempt `to supply absolutev rigidity?. theorie-waybrake elementpcan -beymadeto function as a shock absorber andthereby make-it'possible to use normal size gears in the transmission. Itwill be noted that-the belled` portion. 4'8'ofsun gear sleeve lil; and cam-ring 55,pare made-relativelythin and further, that a. smaller number` of rollers 52 isY used than is customary;r TheA smaller number eventhough piston 53,4 prevents substantial radial device such as 'one-wayV brake :Das rigid pas:

expansion of flangef lt does not. prevent an inward exing of.1cam;ringf;55 nordo'es itprevent torsional strains; in .sleeve 4.1 Wand: belled portion The operation ofthe deviceis.-as,.=fol l ovvsaA Under normal conditionsyclutcn 1.9 is engaged soias toconnect ring' gear'l-ltto carrier L which, in eiect, connects shaft I0 directly with driven shaft H. The propeller then-rotates atengine speed. When it is desired.; to. reduce-the` speed ofgthe: propeller with. respect tof-drivefshaft valvefisfioperated-jto admit oil underv pressure into cylinder 35 which then causespiston. 3.4.. to moveto the-right' (Fig, 2). This movementol piston; 34 :causes .plate-e412;tzr-compress springs 31 andalso 'togvstrikeapivoted shoes 30: Saidrshoes 30. maybe slightlyfinelinedwith respect. to plate i2 ati this: point-j due' tto; their 'unbalanced weight butrcontinuedmovement; ofrcylin-den .3.4-will eventua-uy cause. snoessa-iiftoliesiiat againstplate 42 Vand-slide .with .respects thereton'sincerplate 112 is -x'ed "and shoe .islmountedr'onfrotatingcarrier il; Still further: movement. .td the :right causes bell; crank; 25 tarot-ate.: clockwise: tot the? position shown. dotted, in Eig-.1 2;.. Whenpin: the. dotted position; armisflowered. and throughits connection with' 'slot'EGin pawl 12|; saidipawl 2| .will be. moved radially inward-against the'a'ction. of spririgrs until. pawlf. 22|'. iscompletely 4"disengaged from 4slot 2.2 anl'l 'te' thereby 'released Upon the release of clutch I9 the reaction of the asesina the propeller. Vibrations transmitter tosun gear i5 will be absorbed by the spring action of "one- Way brake Z. Y Y Y To restore the transmission to direct drive condition, duidA pressure is relieved by the proper operation of valve t3 whereupon springs 31 will movepiston Si back to the left (Fig.-2) and springs 3l will move pawls 2i radially-outward thereby rotating bell crank in a counterclockwise direction. Vihen pawls 2i are-aligned with their respective slots` 22 they will enter these slots and effect a direct drive between drive shaft lil and driven shaft .I i. The balance provided bythe extra weight in arm 2Q and shoe 3l) decreases materially the force with whichrpawrls `2i strike the edges of slots 22 while ratcheting over them and thereby increases the life of the direct clutch IG as a whole.

One-way brake 2B also performs another important function. When the engine is to be started, the transmission will be in direct drive since this is the most favorable ratio for starting purposes and also because no oil pressure is available for reduced drive when the engine is not running. If the engine should back-nre or tend to rotate backwardly during cranking, one-way brake 20 willprevent such backward rotation and thus protect the starting mechanism or the person spinning the propeller.

Friction surfaces 5l and 5S also perform an additional important function. One-way brake 2li is strained in one direction by the force of the impulses of the engine and is restored to its original condition by the resilience of its component parts. This restoring force, or recoil, is rather severe, and would tend to create negative vibrations. Because of the snubbing action of friction surfaces 5I and 58, the recoil is substantially reduced and a smoother operation of the engine results. This snubbing action is also effective in the opposite direction under severe impulse conditions wherein all of the resilience in brake 20 has been absorbed without fully checking the force of the impulse.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention and that the scope of the invention therefore is not to be limited thereto but is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A transmission for an impulse engine having a low rotational inertia, said transmission comprising a speed changing mechanism and an automatic one-way brake associated with the mechanism, said mechanism being adapted to provide a direct drive and a .reduced drive, said brake having at least one distortable member which is capable of absorbing a. substantial portion of the impulses of the engine.

2. A speed ratio changing device comprising a drive shaft, a driven shaft. gearing connecting the shafts for producing a speed'ratio change therebetween, a clutch for controlling the ratio change,` said clutch` including an operatorA hav-` ing a radial componentlof movement, and means for substantially balancing the centrifugal force inY said operator resulting from said radial component. f

-, 3. A speed `ratio changingdevice comprising a drive shaft, a driven shaft, gearing connecting the shafts for .producing a speed ratio change therebetween, aclutch for controlling the ratio change, said clutch including arotatable operator having a radial component ofmovement, and powermeansfr .disengaging the clutch by draw-` ing the operator radially inward, said means including a pivoted bell crank having one arm connected. to `the operator" and another arm for transmitting therdisengaging power,` said lastmentioned arm being weighted to develop a centrifugal force which will substantially balance the centrifugal force developed in the rotatable operator.

4.- A speed ratio changing device asin claim 3, said operator comprising a slidable pawl and said clutch'having a slotted member with which the pawl is adaptedto engage to effect a change in ratio.

51A speed ratio 'changing device including a clutch comprisinga slotted element, 'a carrier, a pawl slidably mounted in said carrier` and adapted to engage one of the slots in the element to engage the clutch, a pivoted lever for controlling the pawl. said lever having one arm engaging the pawl, a fixed support, a plate reciprocably mounted in said support, a second arm on said lever extending into the path of movement of the plate, a shoe on the extending arm'for engaging the plate, and means under the control of the operator for reciprocating the plate, thereby engaging and disengaging the clutch by the action of the lever on the pawl.

6. A speed ratio changing device as in claim 5, said pawl being radially disposed, and said extending arm being weighted substantially to counterbalance the centrifugal force developed in the pawl.

7. A speed ratio changing device as in claim 5, an abutment on the xed support, and resilient means for urging the plate in one direction, said abutment serving to prevent the plate from rotating.

8. A speed ratio changing device as in claim 5, a piston secured to said plate, a hydraulic cylinder in the support for moving the plate in one direction, and resilient means acting between the support and plate for opposing the movement of the piston.

9. A transmission for an impulse engine having low rotational inertia, said transmission comprising a speed changing mechanism and an automatic brake associated with said mechanism for operating as a reaction means to complete a power train through the transmission, said brake comprising two spaced bearing members and at least one roller therebetween, one of said members having a cam surface to wedge said roller between said members and prevent relative movement in one direction therebetween and another of said members being of such a light construction that it is resiliently distorted by said roller when the brake functions as a reaction means whereby the brake absorbs a substantial portion of the engine impulses.

10. A transmission for an impulse engine having low rotational inertia, said transmission comprising a speed changing mechanism and an automatic brake of the roller and cam type assoi s; @ses iatedwithSaidmschehismi @relatifs safes action Y means for completing ajpowe train throughv the transmission; .Said braisel being 'sf such a light construction that it is resiiientlydistorted under the engine impulses ,andthereby absorbs a substantial portipnwoftne impulses, and a frictionv brake cooperating Vand in parallel relationship with said automatic Vbrake-for absorbing the recoil producedbysaid onej-waybrake.

11. A transmissionl forati impulsengine haying lowrotational' inertia; saidtransmissioncomprisinga speed' changing mechanism and-an automatic brake associated with said mechanism Vfor operating as' a reactionmeans to complete a power train through the transmission; said vbrake comprising two spaced bearing members and at least one rolleri therebetween, one of said members being stationary' and the'other being rotatable, one of said members having a cam surface to wedge said roller between said members and prevent rotation in one direction* of the rotatable member, one of said members being of such a light construction that it is resiliently distorted by said roller when the brake functions as a reaction means Whereby the brake absorbs asubstantial portion of the engine impulses, and a friction brake on av surface of said Arotatable mem'- ber opposite itsjroller gripping surface for absorbing the recoil" produced in'sad' automatic brake.

12". A- speed-changing mechanism for changing thspeed ratio between an impulse engine and a bladed propeller to be driven thereby, said mechanism including means for producing a direct drive and means for producing a reduced drive, said second-named means including means eiectivefwhen the mechanism is conditioned for direct drive for preventing reverse rotation of the propeller; said last-named means including a resilient part whereby when the mechanism is conditioned for reduced drive the last-named means .absorbs a substantial portion of the impulses of theengine.

13. A power transmission system comprising in combination, an engine, a transmission connected with said engine, said engine driving said transmission and imposing a series of impulses thereon, said transmission comprising a speed changing mechanism and a brake associated therewith to provide a fulcrum for a speed changing drive through the mechanism, said brake comprising two-members and a plurality of rollers for wedging between the members, at least one of said members being resilient to yield under roller pressure resulting from individual engine impulses `and thereby absorb a substantial portion of the impulses.

WILLIAM E. MOFFITT. 

